Transformation

by Michael Ocheskey

  “Die, already!” The flames twisting around Thomas dispersed and electricity flew from his body, in all directions. Thomas’ eyes had changed somehow. He no longer saw only what was in front of him. He had a complete field of vision, seeing behind him, in front of him, on both of his sides, above, and below him as well. Although the electricity was flying sporadically in every direction, not a single charge was hitting the onlookers. Thomas had just enough control over it to direct it away from them.

  Thomas punched his free hand toward the Kraken. All of the electricity discharging from his body changed course and soared directly through the barrier toward the Kraken. The ice blades worked as lightning rods, making sure the electricity traveled through every inch of the Kraken. As the Kraken continued to convulse from the electrical shock, Thomas let out a bloodcurdling howl. This time it wasn’t a roar of battle, but a howl of immense pain.

  The arm holding the ocean at bay was starting to splinter. Finger bones were piercing through the skin and his muscles were tearing. Blood began to pour from the wounds and dripped to the floor in small puddles.

  Thomas held his free hand out as if grabbing the Kraken and clenched it into a fist like he was trying to crush a bug. The entire vortex created by Thomas was filled with swirling flames. The Kraken was visible only for a moment as its body turned to ash and the ice shards melted.

  Thomas let out a final scream of pain that would terrify even a banshee. Thomas’ arm had finally shattered under the pressure and now resembled nothing more than a bloody, spiky mass of flesh. His bones had pierced the skin at odd angles, looking like the branches of a tree dead, twisted tree. Blood was gushing out into a small pool beneath him.

  Unable to bare the pain any longer, Thomas collapsed.

  Time slowed down for Thomas as he fell. As his body soared gracefully, in slow motion, toward the marble floor below, his body began another transformation. His long hair ignited, making him temporarily bald. Then, without a second’s hesitation, a full plait of hair erupted from his head, traveling all of the way down to his hips.

  This hair wasn’t his old blonde hair nor was it the blue hair of an Atlantian. This hair was delicate and regal, a brilliant and sparkling silver. His demonic features receded, leaving him looking exactly like he had, save for his hair and his eyes.

  His eyes appeared to be enchanted. The whites of his eyes were no longer white but silver, and his irises kept changing color with his pupils’ shape shifting in turn. They kept shifting in design from red iris with black flame shaped pupils to blue with black wave pupils, yellow with lightning bolts, green with leaves, brown with wings, a golden yellow with sun pupils, what looked like a black iceberg on a white iris, and finally to a deep purple, nearly black void where the pupil seemed to disappear entirely. His eyes were strobe lights, staying in one design long enough for a person to identify it and then switching to the next design in the series.

  Thomas was breathing rapidly and uncontrollably, using all of his willpower to keep from losing consciousness. Orion, Eri, and King Aquarius hurried to his side from the barrier while Alana raced from the center of town toward Thomas, screaming his name hysterically.

  “Get Dr. Algie, quickly!” King Aquarius commanded as he and the others knelt next to Thomas.

  “No!” Thomas demanded, managing to belt out a single word between gasps. He sat up and stared with all of his might at his wounded arm. There were hundreds of holes where the bones had splintered and pierced through the skin. His arm looked as though it has been ravaged by a wild beast.

  “I’m fine,” Thomas assured everyone around him. He then concentrated hard on healing his arm. As he did, his healthy arm began to glow white. Starting at his shoulder, Thomas put his good, glowing hand on his wounds and slowly slid the white light down his bad arm. The pain was intense, but at the same time, unique. It wasn’t a pain like when his arm shattered. It was a burning, warm sensation felt throughout his entire arm. It tingled and prickled like his arm had been asleep and was waking up as blood flow returned. As Thomas moved his hand down his wounds, each portion of his arm was gradually mended. When Thomas had finished, his arm looked and moved as good as new.

  “Thomas!” Alana had made it to the barrier, tired, out of breath, and spraying the floor with round pearls. “What happened? Are you alright?”

  Thomas stood up and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m completely fine. What about you? Are you hurt?” After checking to make sure that Alana was safe, Thomas turned toward the crowd, “Anyone who has received any injuries gather around me or have someone carry you to me!”

  Once everyone was situated, Thomas hugged himself tightly, bowed his head in concentration, and his entire body was illuminated with the same brilliant white, healing light. He threw his arms out and the white light spread out to surround all of the merfolk around him. After a few screams of pain, the light vanished, revealing healthy and uninjured merfolk.

  “We have to talk,” Thomas whispered to Alana, Orion, Eri, and King Aquarius as he turned away from the crowd.

  They all walked up to the palace, the king cringing as he saw parts of the palace in ruins. They went into Thomas’ room and stood around as Thomas lay down on his bed.

  “I’m so exhausted. I feel like I’ve sapped every ounce of strength from my body today.”

  “Okay,” King Aquarius demanded, “What’s going on? What happened to you, Son?”

  “I’m not entirely sure,” Thomas turned his head toward the crowd gathered around his bed. “I only have theories. I won’t know what happened until I speak to the Sapphire again in a month. Do you remember when I told you about the extinction of the sorcerer race? I don’t think they were fully exterminated. I think I may be one of them.”

  “What?” Alana was shocked into silence, so King Aquarius finished her question for her. “Why didn’t you tell us of your suspicions earlier?”

  “I didn’t tell you because I only just realized it myself.”

  “How long did you know you could use magic?” Orion asked, a little redundantly, as Eri guided Alana forward to sit on the bed. She was very pale and looked like she would be sick from the experiences of the day at any moment.

  “I just found out today. When a large piece of the palace was about to fall on top of Alana and me, I used wind to blow the stone away from us. That was when I realized I was a sorcerer. I went to fight the Kraken to test the limits of my power. I thought I could protect the city if I really was a sorcerer, but I kind of overdid it. I never expected my arm to shatter from the force of my magic.”

  “Yeah, that was scary.” Eri spoke serenely, his eyes slightly hazy as he rubbed Alana’s back. He was holding the bowl he had retrieved from the restroom in front of her just in case. “When I heard ya screamin’ like that, I thought maybe ya were dyin’.”

  “It felt like I would. The pain was so intense.” Thomas turned toward Orion, “One thing that this does mean is that it wasn’t a lightning bolt that struck you four months ago when you hit me, Orion. I was the one who attacked you.”

  “You did it?” Orion was staring disbelievingly at his friend, as if he had just told him he hated him.

  “I didn’t do it on purpose. I was unconscious at the time, remember? What I think happened was a sort of defensive magic.”

  “Defensive magic?”

  Everyone was now staring at Thomas, expecting him to have all the answers, which he certainly did not. As he had clearly told them, he had theories and nothing more.

  “I mean, when you hit me and I became unconscious, my body instinctively wanted to make sure you couldn’t harm me anymore, so it attacked you. I didn’t do it on purpose, but still, I owe you an apology, Orion.”

  “No, you don’t,” Orion stared into his open hand, the one he had punched Thomas with. “I hated you at the time, remember? It is possible, in my drunken rage, that I would have either killed you or seriously injured you while you were unconscious. You were saved by your magic. I am the one who sho
uld apologize, for forcing you to use magic and hitting you in the first place. Besides, I’m glad it happened. If that incident hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be standing here as your friend today. It was because of that incident that we were able to come to an understanding about each other.”

  “Well, aren’t you talkative today.” King Aquarius was smiling tenderly, glancing between Orion and Thomas. “Well, I will have a servant bring you something to eat. You will need to rest today and regain some strength.”

  “Oh, King Aquarius,” Thomas gazed up tentatively, his strength beginning to fail him. “I would like to help rebuild the palace, if you don’t mind. Part of the palace was destroyed by me when I threw that stone away from Alana. It smashed into the palace.”

  “As you wish, but for now, rest. That’s an order, Son.”

  FAIRIES AND FOUL PLAY

  Thomas watched with drooping eyes as the others left. Alana turning back to blow him a kiss goodnight. When they had shut the door behind them, he laid back to rest, but found it an impossibility. His body was exhausted yet his mind was fully awake. He couldn’t stop thinking about the events that had transpired and his mind refused to let him sleep until complete comprehension was attained. As he wrestled with his thoughts, his eyes shot open. He had heard a gentle giggle directly in his ear.

  He jumped up, glancing around the room for the source of the noise.

  Again, he heard the giggle, “I’m down here, silly.”

  Thomas looked down to see a doll standing on his bed. Then the doll waved. It wasn’t a doll at all. Her entire body was different shades of green. She seemed to be wearing a one-piece, leaf-green bikini with a very short skirt protruding from it. The mini-skirt looked like it was made of many small leaves. Upon closer inspection, Thomas realized her clothing wasn’t clothing at all. It was actually a part of her body. It was like some sort of organic exoskeleton designed to give her some protection and coverage. Her long, flowing hair was the darkest green of her entire body, stretching all the way down to her knees. Her ears looked just like all of the Sapphire merfolk’s, only microscopic. Protruding from her back was a set of what looked like transparent butterfly wings. Her face looked innocent and sweet. Thomas thought she looked like a tiny nymph from Greek mythology.

  “What are you?” Thomas pulled his head in closer to the little creature, sniffing it like a dog, attempting to make sure that something was really there and that he wasn’t hallucinating. She smelled like a peppermint leaf. Thomas poked the little girl softly in the stomach to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

  “Ooo,” She giggled playfully again. “You sure are aggressive. We haven’t even been introduced yet.”

  “Y-you’re real! I’m not dreaming. What are you? W-who are you, little girl?”

  She giggled again, twitched her body back and forth, then jumped on top of Thomas’ hand, sitting on his knuckle as if it were a chair, “I’m a fairy.” Without warning, her expression changed and she suddenly became irritated, “And I’m not a little girl! Okay, I may be little, but I’m a fully developed woman.” She stood up on his hand and modeled her body in different sensual poses, twirling every once in a while so he could view every inch of her. “See? I’m as grown up as they come.”

  “Okay,” Thomas was now highly embarrassed, both from her sensual posing and for being reprimanded by someone only six inches tall. “I’m sorry. You are very beautiful and I can see now that you are no little girl.”

  Her entire body turned a flaming red. Thomas closed his eyes and braced for the impact, thinking he had upset her in some manner, but no verbal attack came. He opened his eyes and glanced at the fairy. She was staring down at her feet, clasping her hands behind her back, and kicking her feet out a short ways in front of her. She was blushing! And her entire body was burning with the blush including her exoskeletal clothing.

  “What a cutie.” Thomas couldn’t help but compliment her behavior. She was like a schoolgirl who had been asked on a first date or told for the first time that she was pretty. “But you still haven’t answered my other question. My name is Thomas. What’s yours?”

  “I don’t have one.” She stopped blushing and stared longingly into Thomas’ eyes, then her body turned red again and she looked away. “Only my master can give me one.”

  “Master? You have a master? Does that mean you are a slave?” His concern for the fairy was genuine and caused her to blush an even deeper shade of scarlet.

  “No, I don’t have a master. That is why I don’t have a name.” Her voice was sad and there was a hint of longing in it. She rose her eyes back to Thomas’ and they were burning deeply into his, trying to convey some unspoken truth. They seemed to be pleading, as if there was something he should do, some purpose in their meeting. Thomas could sense this, but was unsure of what it could be. “But yes, I am a slave. Fairies were created by the sorcerer race to be slaves. Our duties were to keep the earth alive and to do anything and everything that our master’s commanded us to do, but the sorcerer race hasn’t been around for so long that none of us have masters.”

  “That’s horrible! How could the sorcerer race have taken advantage of your entire race like that! It’s just horrible. No one should be made to be a slave. Slavery is something I could never tolerate.” Thomas was trying to cheer the fairy up by informing her of his strict feelings of slavery, but it had the completely opposite effect on her.

  “Y-you don’t like fairies?” She had tears in her tiny, green eyes and began to sniff, rubbing her eyes with her forearms. “You really don’t like fairies?”

  “No, it’s not like that at all.” Thomas brought his hand close to his face, bringing the fairy mere inches from his face. He spoke tenderly to reassure her. “I don’t have any problem with fairies at all. I like you, I really do. What I don’t like is the fact that your race are nothing more than slaves to sorcerers. It isn’t fair for you to have to do everything a sorcerer tells you. You should be able to make your own choices. You shouldn’t be forced to do anything and everything that your master tells you.”

  The fairy had calmed down and was now making eye contact with Thomas, refusing to break that contact, no matter how awkward it felt.

  “I know you mean well, but you don’t understand in the least. It is who we are. We can’t stop being what we were created to be. It would be like a fish refusing to swim, a bird refusing to fly. We are nothing more than magical creatures whose sole purpose is to obey our masters. Can’t you understand that? Even without our sorcerer masters, we have continued to keep the plant life inside the barrier thriving because that is what we were created to do, apart from servitude. It is a great honor for us to finally get a master to serve. We wait our entire lives for the chance to serve. Sorcerers understand that fact. You are a sorcerer too. That is why you can see me now, even though your merman transformation has not yet completed.”

  “I may be a sorcerer, but I still don’t like the idea of slavery. I would never make a fairy my slave.”

  Those words cut through the fairy like a knife. She burst into tears and flew from the room, squeezing underneath the crack between door and floor.

  “What was that about? What did I say to her? All I meant was that I would never treat a fairy like a slave. Like she said, fairies can’t help but be what they were born to be. If a fairy wanted me to be its master, I would not refuse. I just wouldn’t treat it like a slave. I’d treat it like a companion, asking requests of it instead of giving orders. It would never have to obey a request of mine if it didn’t wish to. I think commands should never be given to anybody except in dire circumstances.”

  Thomas continued to gaze at the door, which the fairy had flown underneath to escape. He realized now that he had greatly insulted her and insulted her way of life. He would feel the same if someone insulted surfers and accused them of being mindless sea urchins who only cared about thrills. Okay, perhaps that wasn't an adequate comparison, but surfing was the one thing in Thomas’ human life that he felt strongly
enough about to compare to the fairy's feelings about her servitude.

  Unbeknownst to Thomas, the fairy was on the other side of the door, listening to every word he spoke aloud to himself. She smiled brightly, wiped her tears, and flew away.

  It took a few days of rest for Thomas to fully recover from his excessive magic use. Once he was feeling better he was eager to help the construction team finish the palace. When he stepped outside, every head turned. Thomas could tell instantly that they had been anxiously awaiting his emergence from the palace. The sound that erupted nearly blew his ear drums off. People from all over the city were standing outside the palace gates waving, applauding, and whooping at his arrival. Thomas swelled with pride. He had hoped while he was recovering that people would stop treating him as an outsider. Yet he worried that after saving the city he may have distanced himself further from them due to his demonic appearance when he had used his magic.

  “Hello, Thomas,” Orion was standing at the front gates, helping the guards keep people clear so that the construction workers could get through. “Finally stepped out of your cave, have you? Care to help out?”

  “Sure, that’s why I’m here.” Thomas turned around to look at the palace. “The only problem is, I’m not entirely sure how to do it.”

  “What do you mean? You can use magic!” Orion announced as if he were telling Thomas that the ocean was made of water.

  “Magic can’t do everything. The problem is that sorcerers can only use the eight elemental magics: earth, wind, water, fire, ice, energy, light, and dark. I’ve tried to figure out how those would help to speed up the construction process, but I couldn’t think of any. It looks like I’ll have to help the old-fashioned way, with my bare hands.” Thomas tried to hide the sheepish grin that flashed momentarily across his face.